EYRE'S DISCOVERIES IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 225, 25 September 1847, Page 4

EYRE'S DISCOVERIES IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIA.

"We have recently had the opportunity of a cursory examination of this interesting work. It is in two volumes, the first and a portion of the second volume contains the author's journals of his expeditions, and overland journey from Adelaide to King George's Sound ; the remainder of the second volume is devoted to a description of the manners and customs of the aborigines of Australia. The following extract describing the murder of the overseer by two of the black boys accompanying the expedition, and the author's critical situation in consequence of this treachery, is from the journal of the overland journey irom Adelaide to King George's Sound # " To night the overseer asked me which of the watches I would keep, and as I was not sleepy, though tired, I chose the first. At a quarter before six, I went to take charge of the horses, having previously seen the overseer and the natives lay down to sleep, at their rerpective breakwinds, ten or twelve yards apart from one another. The arms and provisions, as was our custom, were piled up under an oilskin, between my breakwind and that of the overseer, with the exception of one gun, which I always kept at my own sleeping place. I have been thus minute in detailing the position and arrangement of our encampment this evening, because of the fearful consequences that followed, and to show the very slight circumstances upon which the destinies of life sometimes hiuge. Trifling as the arrangement of the watches might seem, and unimportant as I thought it at the time, whether I undertook the first or the second, yet was my choice, in this respect, the means under God's providence of my life being saved, and the cause of the loss of that of my overseer. " The night was very cold, and the wind bio ning hard from the south-west, whilst scud and nimbus were passing very rapidly by the moon. The horses fed tolerably well, but rambled a good deal, threading in and out among the many belts of scrub which intersected the grassy openings, until at last 1 hardly knevr where our camp was, the fires having apparently expired some time ago. It was now half past ten, and I headed the horses back, in the direction in which I thought the camp lay, that I might be ready to call the overseer to- relieve me at eleven. Whilst thus engaged, and looking steadfastly around among the scrub, to see if I could any where detect the embers of our fires, I was startled by a sudden flash, followed hy the ieport of a gun, not a quarter of a mile away from me. Imagining that the overseer had mistaken the hour of the night, and not being able to find me or the horses, had taken that method to attract my attention, I immediately called out, but as no answer was returned, I got alarmed, and leaving the horses, hurried up towards the camp as rapidly as I could. About a hundred yards from it, I met the King George's Sound native (Wylie), running towards me, and in great alarm crying out, * Oh massa, oh ma'ssa come here' — but could gain no information from him, as to what had occurred. Upon reaching the encampment, which I did in about five minutes after the shot was fired, I was horrorstruck to find my poor overseer lying on the ground, weltering in his blood, and in the last agonies of death. " Glancing hastily around the camp I found it deserted by the two younger native boys, whilst the scattered fragments of our baggage, which I left carefully piled under the oilskin, lay thrown about in wild disorder, and at once revealed the cause of the harrowing scene before me. " Upon raising the body of my faithful, but ill-fated follower, I found that he was beyond all human aid ; he had been shot through the left breast with a ball, the last convulsions of death were upon him, and he expired almost immediately after our arrival. The frightful, the appalling truth now burst upon me, that I was alone in the desert. He who

bad faithfully served me for many years, who had followed my fortunes in adversity and prosperity, who had accompanied me in all my wanderings, and whose attachment to me had been his sole inducement to remain with me in this last, and to him alas, fatal journey, was now no more. For an instant, I was almost tempted to wish that it bad been my own fate instead of his. Tbe horrors of my situation glared upon me in such startling reality, as for an instant almost to paralyse the mind. At the dead hour of night, in the wildest and most inhospitable wastes of Australia, with tbe fierce wind raging in unison with tbe scene of violence before me, I was left, with a single native, whose fidelity I could not rely upon, and who for aught I knew might be in league with tbe other two, who perhaps were even now, lurking about with the view of taking away my life as they had done that of the overseer. Three days had passed away since we left the last water, and it was very doubtful when we might find any more. Six hundred miles of country had to be traversed, before I could hope to obtain the slightest aid or assistance of any kind, whilst I knew not that a single drop of water or an ounce of flour bad been left by these murderers, from a stock that had previously been so small. " With such thoughts rapidly passing through my mind, I turned to search for my double-barrelled gun, which I had left covered with an oilskin at the head of ray own breakwind. It was gone, as was also the doublebarrelled gun that had belonged to the overseer. These were the only weapons at the time that were in serviceable condition, for though there were a brace of pistols they had been packed away, as there were no cartridges for them, and my rifle was useless, from having a ball sticking fast in tbe breech, and which we had in vain endeavoured to extract. A few days previous to our leaving the last water, the overseer had attempted to wash out the rifle not knowing it was loaded, and the consequence was, that the powder became wetted and partly washed away, so that we could neither fire it off, nor get out the ball ; I was therefore temporarily defenceless, and quite at the mercy of the natives, had they at this time come upon me. Having hastily ripped open the bag in which tbe pistols had been sewn up, I got them out, together with my powder-flask, and a bag containing a little shot and some large balls. The rifle I found where it had been left, but the ramrod had been taken out by the boys to load ray double-barrelled gun with, its own ramrod being too short for that purpose ; I found it, however, together with several loose cartridges, lying about near the place where the boys had slept, so that it was evident they had deliberately loaded the firearras before they tried to move away with the things they had sto'en ; one barrel only of my gun had been previously loaded, and I believe neither barrels in that of the overseer. " After obtaining possession of all the remaining arras, useless as they were at the moment, with some ammunition, I made no further examination then, but hurried away from the fearful scene, accompanied by the King George's Sound native, to search for the horses, knowing that if they got away now, no chance whatever would remain of saving our lives. Already the wretched animals had wandered to a considerable distance ; and although the night was moonlight, yet the belts of scrub, intersecting the plains, were so numerous and dense, that for a long time we could not find them ; having succeeded in doing so at last, Wylie and I remained with them, watching them during the remainder of the night ; but they were very restless, and gave us a great deal of trouble. With an aching heait, and in most painful reflections, I passed this dreadful night. Every moment appeared to be protracted to an hour, and it seemed as if the daylight would never appear. About midnight the wind ceased, and the weather became bitterly cold and frosty. I had nothing on but a shirt and a pair of trowsers, and suffered most acutely from the cold ; to mental anguish was now added intense bodily pain. Suffering and distress had well nigh overwhelmed me, and life seemed hardly worth the effort necessary to prolong it. Ages can never efface the horrors of this single night, nor would the wealth of the world ever tempt me to go through similar ones again. " April 30. — At last, by God's blessing, daylight dawned once more, but sad and heartrending was the scetfeit presented to my view, upon driving the horses to what had been our last night's camp. The corjse of my poor companion lay extended on the ground, with the eyes open, but cold and glazed in death. Tbe same stern resolution, and fearless open look, which had characterized him when living, stamped the expression of his countenance even now. He bad fallen upon his breast four or five yards from where he had been sleeping, and was dressed only in his shirt. In all probability, the noise made by the natives, in plundering the camp, had awoke him ; and upon his jumping up, with a view of stopping them, they had fired upon and killed him.

" Around the camp lay scattered the harness of the horses, and the remains of the stores that had been the temptation to this fatal deed. "As soon as the horses were caught, and secured, I left Wylie to make a fire, whilst I proceeded to examine into the state of our baggage, that I might decide upon our future proceedings. Among the principal things carried off by the natives, were, the whole of our baked bread, amounting to twenty pounds weight, some mutton, tea and sugar, the overseer's tobacco and pipes, a one gallon keg full of water, some clothes, two double-barrel-led guns, some ammunition, and a few other small articles. " There were still left forty pounds of flour, a little tea and sugar, and four gallons of water, besides the arms and ammunition I had secured last night. " From the state of our horses, and the dreadful circumstances we were placed in, I was now obliged to abandon every thing but the bare necessaries of life. The few books and instruments I bad still left, with many of the specimens I had collected, a saddle, and some other things were thrown aside to lighten somewhat more the trifling loads our animals had to carry. A little bread was then baked, and I endeavoured once more to put the rifle in serviceable condition, as it was the only weapon we should have to depend upon in any dangers that might beset us. Unable in any way to take out the breech, or to extract the ball, I determined to melt it out, and for that purpose took the barrel off the stock, and put the breech in the fire, holding the muzzle in my hand. Whilst thus' engaged, 'the rifle went off, the ball whizzing close past my head ; the fire, it seems, had dried the powder, which had been wetted, not washed out ; and when the barrel was sufficiently heated, the piece had gone off, to the imminent danger of my life, from the incautious way in which I held it. The gun, however, was again serviceable : and after carefully loading it, I felt a degree of confidence and security I had before been a stranger to. "At eight o'clock we were ready to proceed ; there remained but to perform the last sad offices of humanity towards him, whose career had been cut short in so untimely a manner. This duty was rendered even more than ordinarily painful, by the nature of the country, where we happened to have been encamped. One vast unbroken surface of sheet rock extended for miles in every direction, and rendered it impossible to make a grave. We were some miles away from the sea-shore, and even had we been nearer, could not have got down the cliffs to bury the corpse in the sand. I could only, therefore, wrap a blanket around the body of the overseer, and leaving it enshrouded where he fell, escape from the melancholy scene, accompanied by Wylie, under the influence of feelings which neither time nor circumstances will ever obliterate. Though years have now passed away since the enactment of this tragedy, the dreadful horrors of that time and scene, are recalled before me with frightful vividness, and make me shudder even now, when I think of them. A life time was crowded into those few short hours, and death alone may blot out the impressions they produced." In the evening Mr. Eyre again fell in with the native boys who endeavoured, but fortunately without success, to induce Wylie to leave him, after which he saw no more of them. He endured great hardships from want of water and provisions, and at length on the Bth May, killed one of his horses for food and continuing his journey along the coast, on the 2nd June was fortunate enough to fall in with the French whaler Mississippi lying at anchor about a quarter of a mile from the shore. This .vessel was under the command of an Englishman, Captain Rossiter, who appears to have kindly and hospitably entertained our author, liberally furnishing him with such supplies as he stood in need of. After remaining twelve days on board the Mississippi, Mr. Eyre with recruited strength, renewed his arduous journey accompanied by his native boy Wylie, and after a variety of hardships finally succeeded July 7th, in reaching Albany, King George's Sound.